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The publication, in July, of the Holy Father's
Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, engendered furious opposition
from modernist bishops, particularly in Europe and North America, who are
reluctant (to put it mildly) to let the faithful choose between the Novus
Ordo Mass and the Mass of All Time.

They immediately went to work trying to
find excuses to disregard the Pope's intention that there should be more
use of the Tridentine Mass. They said that Summorum Pontificum is
full of loopholes. And they said it requires interpretation the more so
since only the Latin version is now present on the Vatican website. The
dissenting bishops assert their power to interpret the Motu Proprio. They
rely on the accompanying letter which says "these new norms do not
in any way lessen [the bishops’] own authority and responsibility."

Faced with the possibility of as many "interpretations" as there are disobedient bishops, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is reportedly preparing its own new document on how Summorum Pontificum is to be interpreted and applied.

Msgr. Camille Perl, secretary of the commission, told the Italian Papal website Petrus that the document will provide authoritative guidance on questions that have been raised frequently about the Papal directive, such as how many parishioners would constitute a group sufficient to call for the use of the older liturgy.

He acknowledged that the new document is a response to widespread limitations on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal imposed by bishops and priests characterized in the Petrus headline as "disobedient" ("disubbidienti"). Msgr. Perl said that, in his opinion, the "sense of obedience and respect for authority has been lost."

Meanwhile, the Vatican Press, Libreria Editricie Vaticana, announced in October that it has begun reprinting and selling the 1962 Roman Missal, required for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.

The publication is being viewed as a sign of Vatican support for those who wish to celebrate the Mass in Latin, and encouragement to faithful Catholics to be obedient to not just the letter but the spirit of the Motu Proprio.

Several organizations, including the Society of St. Pius X, are now offering training materials to teach younger priests how to say the Tridentine Mass, and traditional vestments and Mass accessories are becoming widely available.

The new printing of the 1962 Missale Romanum will soon be available from the Fatima Shoppe. Also available and recommended, is the New Marian Missal by Sylvester P. Juergens, S.M.

Click here to purchase The Suicide of Altering the Faith in the Liturgy by Father Paul Kramer.

Traditionalists Mark Centenary of Pascendi Dominici Gregis

September 8th, 2007, was the 100th anniversary of Pascendi dominici gregis, called by many Catholic theologians, the most important Papal encyclical of the 20th Century.

In this monumental work, Pope St. Pius X condemned modernism, and a whole range of other "evolutionary principles" threatening Roman Catholic dogma. He also set up committees to cleanse the Church of modernist theologians and the liturgical consequences of their false teachings.

In the Motu Proprio, Sacrorum antistitum, His Holiness commanded all bishops, priests and teachers to take an Oath against Modernism. (Those who say that the Pope has lost his power to command should note that in all of Europe only about two dozen priests refused to take the oath, despite a storm of protest and howls of outrage from Protestants.) This requirement remained in force until 1967, when it was abolished by Pope Paul VI in the aftermath of Vatican II.

In Pascendi, the only canonized
20th-Century Pope imposed the full weight of his office to defend the Church
and the Catholic Faith from the sinister influences of Protestant and Masonic-minded
forces in the seminaries and in the Vatican itself. He taught that the only
way to deal with modernists is to expose them, root them out of the Church
and suppress their works, because "there is no part of Catholic
truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt."

The offensive which culminated in Pascendi staved off for half a century the historic revisionism, false ecumenism and political correctness which have dominated "mainstream" Catholic thinking since Vatican II. St. Pius X saw what was coming and tried to prevent it. Ultimately his good intentions and work were undone by his post-Conciliar successors. It is fitting that the centenary of Pascendi be not just marked, but celebrated by all who value Catholic Tradition.

On the last weekend of October, Catholic
Family News held a conference in Cleveland, Ohio, to commemorate and
celebrate 100 years of Pope St. Pius X's Encyclical Against Modernism,
Pascendi. Ten well-known Catholic speakers spoke on how neo-modernism affects
the Church and world, and gave spiritual and intellectual weapons to resist
it.

Another Bishop of the "Underground" Catholic Church Dies in Communist Chinese Custody

Most Rev. Han Dingxiang (R.I.P.) was one of the many hundreds of Chinese Catholic priests who refused to join the "Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association" (CPCA), the schismatic pseudo-church set up by the Communists over 50 years ago to control the activities of the Catholic faithful.

Before being ordained a bishop, Father Han spent 19 years in a labor camp, during the time of the viciously anti-religious "Cultural Revolution". His persecution did not end once he was made a bishop. In fact he was arrested by the Communist authorities 10 more times after his elevation.

Bishop Han's eleventh and last arrest was
on November 20, 1999. He was seized while leading a retreat for some of
his religious. He died in police custody on September 9, 2007. He never
saw even one day of the 21st Century as a free man.

According to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, "With the exception of a few of his very close relatives who were suddenly summoned by the government authority to his bedside before his death, none of his priests and other faithful were aware of his grave illness or of any other cause leading to his death.... The bishop was immediately ordered by the government authority to be cremated at approximately 5 a.m. the next morning and his ashes were buried immediately in a public cemetery all within 6 hours after his death. Consequently, with the exception of a few relatives, the body of Bishop Han was not viewed by the public or by any other faithful."

Despite a statement in the Chinese constitution
that freedom of religion is guaranteed to all Chinese, that country's Communist
government has, from the day it seized power, cruelly and systematically
persecuted not just Catholics, but other Christians as well as Muslims (especially
in Xinjiang), Buddhists (in Tibet) and the Falun Gong sect.

At the same time, the Communists have set
up the CPCA with which the Vatican is now seeking an accommodation to try
to absorb and control the increasing number of Chinese who embrace the True
Faith. Catholics who adhere to the state-run CPCA are allowed to engage
in religious activities, as long as they don't "meddle in politics".
But those who refuse to join the state-run "church" are forced
to practice their faith in secret, just like the early Christians.

According to recent reports, all 45 of
China's Roman Catholic bishops, those ordained by the Pope, are in prison
or "hospitals", under house arrest, or in hiding.

Please pray for the souls of the untold thousands of Chinese Catholics who have died under the Communist tyranny, and for the millions struggling to keep the Faith in spite of persecution and incarceration.

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